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BrisScience: A Stroke of Inspiration: Advancements in Stroke Research

In Australia nearly 50,000 people suffer a stroke each year and there are over 470,000 stroke survivors living in Australia, a third of whom are under the age of 65.

At the age of just 31, Dr Lavinia Codd became one of those statistics. The former chartered accountant is now a postdoctoral research fellow at the Queensland Brain Institute at UQ.

Lavinia is investigating ways of improving cognitive recovery following stroke by activating precursor cells to increase the production of new brain cells (neurogenesis), which is a form of neuroplasticity. Her aim is to translate laboratory findings into new behavioural and pharmacological approaches to restore cognitive functions in human stroke survivors.

Dr Lavinia Codd pursued a career change from chartered accountancy to science when her children were born. Unfortunately, mid-way through her Bachelor of Science, aged just 31, Lavinia suffered a stroke. She resumed her Bachelor of Science to drive her cognitive recovery, going on to complete her PhD in Professor Bartlett’s laboratory at UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute, where she was a post-doctoral research fellow. Lavinia has now taken on an Advancement role at QBI.